Signs of a Maddening Cause
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: They had been warned that there were signs, they were aware that he was suffering, but they chose not to do anything they knew they had an obligation as his guardians to do before the situation they had become a part of got worse. The early warning signs that signaled larger problems. With deliberate negligence and hatred, a cause for the madness was unleashed.


Creation began on 09-28-19

Creation ended on 09-29-19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Signs of a Maddening Cause

A/N: Say the maternal aunt and uncle of Shinji were informed of the signs of Shinji's behavior change…and still did nothing to try and change how the outcome?

Neither one was sure why the kindergarten teacher had asked them to come to the school today; only that it concerned their nephew, Shinji. But the aunt, Motoko, knew that the boy had better not have caused a scene or said something; she had more important concerns to worry about than anything regarding him.

In the principal's office, the principal, the kindergarten teacher…and some guy that they didn't know anything about.

"What is this?" Motoko asked them.

"This is Jericho Higurashi," the principal answered. "He's a child therapist I recommended look into your nephew's case."

"It's starting to get a bit…worrisome," the teacher stated.

"Has he been getting into fights again?" The uncle asked. "We told him not to."

"That's the thing, he hasn't gotten into any fights," she explained. "Yesterday, the class had to do an assignment I had for them. Each student was asked to draw what their worst fear was. I was expecting most of them draw some sort of demon or a Toho monster, but Shinji… What he drew was…unexpected."

Then, she pulled out the drawing Shinji had made and showed it to them. This made Motoko react with utter disinterest.

"So, he drew a giant, skinned figure that looks like something out of a science-fiction film," she told them. "Boys will be boys."

"Except this was just one of the two drawings he did yesterday," the teacher explained, and pulled out another drawing. "I asked him to draw something he feared that was a little more…understandable, but he either misunderstood the assignment…or he has a problem that we're not clearly equipped to deal with here."

"After she brought Shinji's drawings to me, we had to check his locker…and we found several other drawings," the principal explained further, reaching into his desk and pulling out a handful of drawings and presented them to the guardians.

There were no depictions of monsters, but of people, either in moments of everyday content…or in states of discord where they were going to face inescapable agony."

"Goodness gracious," Motoko uttered, looking at a drawing of what was clearly herself having slapped Shinji in his face during an argument that her son had started. "And Shinji drew all of these? But…he's tiny and unlikely to think things like this."

"Ma'am, as I've yet to have an interview with the boy myself," Jericho expressed, "I've looked at a dozen cases involving children slightly older than Shinji, and in situations of this sort where a child shows a capacity to imagine or even draw scenarios in which their fears seem to collide with their sense of recollection, their memories or what they even believe to be memories… Well, even in a drawing meant to serve only as a representation of what they fear most in the present…can be typical or characteristic of…early warnings signs."

"Early warning signs?" The uncle questioned. "Eh-heh-heh! Signs of what, exactly?"

Jericho looked at the teacher and principal and then back at the guardians.

"Well, based on Shinji's profile and what only other people have said about him," he answered them, "signs that whatever's bothering your nephew…may fester into…larger problems. I must recommend that he be evaluated."

"So, you think he's crazy?" Motoko questioned, dropping the handful of drawings in her hands onto the desk. "I can blame the craziness on his mother."

"We didn't see that he's crazy," Jericho clarified, "but he's clearly showing signs that he's bothered by something. Whether it's the school environment here or his environment at your home, your nephew has a problem or a series of problems that aren't resolving themselves. Have either of you spoken to him about anything he's been going through? Has he spoken to you about any problems he's got on his mind? Is there a friend or confidant that he confides in?"

In truth, the aunt and uncle had very little to do with Shinji beyond making sure he had a roof over and food in his belly; the less they had to deal with him, the better off they were until they could get rid of him.

"All I've ever had to know about my nephew is that he's the only child of my sister and her idiot husband that got dumped on my family after she went and died in a science experiment gone wrong," Motoko told them, "nothing more, nothing less."

"You mean to say that…you don't talk to him at all? Either of you? So, then, you have no idea how long this may have been going on." Jericho told them. "He needs…"

"We'll deal with him our way, if you don't mind, sir," Motoko's husband declared, but that was just to end the meeting; he had no intention of dealing with the boy.

As the guardians left, the teacher, principal and Mr. Higurashi looked down at a drawing that depicted the aunt trying to get away from her nephew, indicating that Shinji…might've possessed a measure of…resentment towards her over something she either said or did to him.

-x-

In his room, looking at a drawing that he'd been working on, ripped to pieces by his cousin and left scattered on the floor, Shinji, feeling his emotions towards others reach the limits of his ability to tolerate for the sake of not having to hear himself be bad-mouthed by his aunt and uncle…had finally reached a breaking point. Knowing that his cousin wasn't going to get blamed for something he did wrong, the young boy decided that enough was enough with these people. His aunt, his uncle, his cousin, anyone that had caused him discontent, just because of who his parents were, he wanted them to go as far away as he could make them.

"_If he gets sick and dies, I know I wouldn't miss him," _he recalled his aunt saying, and his little hands balled into fists as he thought of the reverse.

He started to wonder…if he would even miss any of them if something…or someone caused them to die. Reaching under his futon for a roll of duct tape he took from the kitchen, he decided to see if he could feel anything for these relatives that pushed him too far…and he was done with taking their crap and feeling unable to fight back. It was time to sever his family bonds…with these people that were just not cut out to be family.

You know how it turns out for Shinji when the choice is made

A/N: This is pretty much how _A Maddening Cause _is started; an adult pair choose to overlook the situation that they're making worse with their own discontentment of their nephew, a cousin that causes another cousin pain and with the freedom to get away with his acts, and a rage that has become uncontrollable and led to an unforgivable retribution. A price was set for suffering to cease…and a price was paid to become one that inflicts suffering onto others, to become a tormentor instead of being tormented.


End file.
